Bonus-determining device



(No Model.)

J. H. DROBISGH. BONUS DETERMINNG DEVICE.

Patented Dec. 15,1896.

o n, o e o o o o. o a o c o o o c u o o 0T of o o o \o c w Gyn o2 oo o o o o o1 l *o o o o al o UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

JUDSON H. DROBISOI-I, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

BONUS-DETERMINING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION: forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,076, dated December l5, 1896.

Application filed June Z2, 1896.

To @ZZ whom t 'nung/,f concer/i:

Be it known that I, JUDSON H. DROBIsCH, of Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Bonus-Determining Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is designed to act as an incentive to persons to purchase certain articles, as cigars, for instance, by giving them a chance of procuring a return in merchandise in excess of the current value of the money invested. It is exemplified in the structure hereinafter described and it is defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specication, Figure 1 is a face view of a device embodyingr my improvements. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through the device. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the rear face of the device and represcntin g the drawer partly opened.

In constructing a device embodying the different peculiarities of my invention a hollow base 1 is provided with a pair of posts 2, and between such posts a frame 3 is swung on pivots 4. The extreme front of the frame is a plate of glass, as shown at 2O in Fig. 2. Behind the'glass is a board 5, which is supplied with a set of pins projecting forward. At the upper end of the frame the pins form an arched passage-way for coin, as shown at (i, the pins composing the arch being close enough together to control the coin. At the base of the arch-formed passage-way the pins are arranged in a staggered or zigzag manner, as shown at 7, and near the base of the frame the pins are arranged to form receptacles, as shown at 17. A slot is formed in the upper end of the frame, as shown at 9 in Fig. 2, and a hood 8, which also acts as a guide, is placed above the slot. The slot communicates with the arch-formed passageway, the upper pin of the under surface of the arch being directly below the center of the slot, and when a coin is dropped through the slot it is a matter of chance whether it turns to the right or to the left, and it is also a matter of chance what its course will be among the staggered pins and in which particular receptacle it will finally stop. In this Serial No. 596,466. (No model.)

instance there are nine receptacles, three of which are designated by the numeral 2 and the others by numeral 1, but the number of receptacles and the manner of designating them is not arbitrary.

If the coin, a nickel,` for instance, should come to rest inl a receptacle designated by 1, the prospective purchaser would, under the ordinary mode of using the device, be entitled to the worth of his money in trade at current prices and nothing more, but if the coin should chance to fall into a receptacle marked 2 the purchaser would be entitled to a bonus of one hundred per cent. on the value of his purchase money. In other words, if the device is placed in a cigar-store a nickel in a receptacle marked 1 will procure one five cent cigar, and the same nickel in a receptacle marked 2 will procure two Iive-cent cigars or their equivalent.

The foregoing explanation of the use of the device is illustrative merely, as the device may be used in many mercantile transactions, the per cent. of bonus may be varied to suit different circumstances, and the terms of the proposed bonus may be expressed in words instead of numbers.

After a coin has come to rest in a receptacle and its purchasing power is determined the next act is to deposit it in the drawer in the base of the device. To provide for this act, a slot 14 is formed in the top of the base lengthwise thereof, a strip 13 is fastened to the upper surface of the base immediately in the rear of slot 14, and a slot 11, which is as wide as the combined Width of strip 13 and slot 14, is formed in the bottom 10 of frame 3. The pivots 4, on which frame 3 is hung, are back of the center of gravity of the frame and the constant tendency of the bottom of the frame is to swing backward. This peculiarity causes the front wall of slot 11 to press normally against the front surface of the strip, and as the front wall of said slot is in line with the inner surface ofthe glass of the frame'the strip is in position to sustain the coin. By pressing the upper end of the frame backward the front wall of the slot 1l will swing forward into alinement with slot 14 and the coin will descend through such slots into the drawer 15. As soon as the ICO frame is given freedom of action it will swing to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the device will again be ready to receive a coin.

The strip 13 acts as a stop to limit the swing of the frame in both directions, and it holds the coin high enough to permit it to be examined.

The drawer is divided into compartments 18 for the coins on which bonuses are paid and other compartments 19 for the face-value coins, The compartments coincide with the receptacles 2 and l, respectively, and the proportionate number of coins found in the bonus-compartments after any determined interval supply data from which the actual profits resulting from the use of the device may be calculated.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A bonus-determining device comprising a hollow base having a slot, a frame supported swingably above the base, such frame having a coin-receiving slot in its upper end,

a plurality of tortuous passages merging one into others, receptacles at the lower terminations of the passages, and a slot in its bottom below the receptacles and adapted to register with the slot in the base when the frame is suitably swung, substantially as set forth. Y

2. A bonus-determining device comprising a hollow base having a slot, a strip on the base immediately in the rear of the slot, a frame mounted swingably on the base and having a plurality of passages and receptacles for coin, and also having a slot extending be low the receptacles and embracing the strip on the base, such slot being wider than the strip, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof l sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 

